[kqr]

I was thinking of the British Empire. Their naval technology was superior enough to overpower the distance term.

I was under the impression the Dutch didn't really wage interstate war in the same sense, but rather that a bunch of paramilitary private organisations happened to fly Dutch flags. I have to admit I know very little about the Spanish case, but again I thought they mainly fought proxy wars with other European colonial powers, i.e. both were equally disadvantaged by distance.

[jimnotgym]

Well Spain had most of south America, some of the carribean and the Philippines. The Dutch had the Spice Islands, half a world away. Portugal had Brazil, Azores, a bit of India and a base in China.

France had most of continental Europe, with distances that were much greater comparitively, considering they only had horses and sail boats. They also had big interests in the Indian ocean, Madagascar for instance, and the Caribbean.